Here is a list of website accessibility guidelines for Waisman Center University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) staff. Please check your website content for accessibility before publishing.
Writing
- Do not change text color or add underlines.
- Use sentence case (not all capital letters).
- Use plain language.
- Define all acronyms.
Hyperlinks
- Test hyperlinks to make sure they work before posting.
- Embed the URL in text that gives the hyperlink context (e.g., “Waisman Center website” instead of writing out the full URL).
Images
- Make sure the image is not blurry when zoomed into 400%.
- Add alternative text to every image.
Videos
- Make sure all videos have accurate closed captioning and/or an audio transcript.
Word or PowerPoint documents
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- Use Microsoft’s built-in accessibility checkers on your documents:
PDFs
- If you must use a PDF, make it as accessible as possible.
- Create an HTML version of the PDF in WordPress.
New pages
- Provide a short description at the top of the page to give context.
- Nest page within its section (for example, if you are creating a “Product” webpage, make “Products” its parent page).
- Use appropriate heading levels. For example, the first heading should be “Heading 2” (the page title is automatically “Heading 1”). The next subheading would be “Heading 3,” etc. The body text should be “Paragraph.”
Updates
- Check your page periodically (at least every 6 months) to keep the information up to date.
- Remove past events and outdated information in a timely manner.
Source: UW-Madison Guides: Make it Accessible
Please contact Stacy McCarthy Myers with any questions (smccarthy4@wisc.edu)